VENEZUELA

The typical trip that leaves from Ciudad Bolívar is the one to the Salto del Ángel. To do it there are many different possibilities and we bought the cheapest one with Adrenaline Expeditions (ask for Luís Guillermo, corner street Dalla Costa with the Boulevard, Tel. 0058-285 6324804, www.adrenalinexpeditions.com, [email protected], [email protected]).
In Adrenaline also can keep the backpacks and acts as a tourist information centre for the city.
We paid 650.000Bs per person for the three days and two nights trip in a hammock leaving from the La Paragua airport which is 3 hours from Ciudad Bolívar with everything included.
The flight from La Paragua to Canaima lasts only 30 minutes and it is in a small plane for only 12 people (on the way back it was even a smaller plane for 6 people!). Canaima is the ensemble of posadas and a little airport, nothing else. There is a small beach if you want to rest.

Arriving to the National Park of Canaima you must pay an entrance fee of 8.000Bs (3.000Bs if you are from Venezuela). Once there you are given the lunch and afterwards you take a little boat to see the 5 falls, to the same lake that we crossed. Once in the other side of the lake, you walk to the Sapo which is another fall, where you can walk behind the water fall and this makes this experience unique, but be aware because the water falls with such a force that you must take the ropes to avoid falling and as well just go there with a bathing suit and with your cameras very well protected in plastic bags.
I think it’s better you take swimming goggles as the weather and spray is very very heavy and it hurts the eyes, even if you wear contact lenses it’s dangerous as then you also risk losing them.

Afterwards you walk one hour and a half and two more hours in a little boat through the tepuis (high mountains with flat top and with scarped walls) to the camp. The two camps where we stayed were really simple: no electricity. Food was just ok, but at night, as we slept in hammocks and during the evening rains a lot, it was really cold. We were given a blanket but it was not enough. That’s why I advise taking a jacket or similar.

The day after very early you go again with the little boat for two more hours to another camp at the Salto del Ángel (Angel Falls) (you can see it even from the camp). Then you walk/climb the mountain for one hour and you arrive to the impressive Salto del Ángel. It’s 979 meters height and really beautiful. We were lucky as that day we had no clouds and we could see it from the top to the river downstairs. This is really rarely as often there are clouds.
Once there there is a belvedere, and further 10 minutes walking there is a natural swimming pool at the feed of the Salto, and it’s real nice and refreshing, just be aware of the stream.
Water is cold and feels great after walking and climbing for more than one hour.
We slept in the camp down to the Salto and it’s as well really simple.
The third day you go again 4 hours in the boat to Canaima and you just wait your turn to take your flight to La Paragua or Ciudad Bolívar. The airport La Paragua should not be called airport, it’s just a sand track where planes land, nothing else.

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salto_Angel

A lot of the posada owners from Ciudad Bolívar, for instance Martin from Posada Don Carlos, also sell this trip but leaving from the airport Ciudad Bolívar and spending the first night at one of the posadas in Canaima and the second night in a hammock. Price 710.000Bs.

We believe is not worth to leave from La Paragua to save a couple of bolívares, you spend too much time that you lose afterwards. In Adrenaline also offer this trip from Ciudad Bolívar.

Another option to see Salto del Ángel is watching it from a plane, only one day. It’s the most expensive option of all and could cost around 300€.

We think this trip can also be made on your own, without agency, but we do not think you can get better prices for it as the agencies have already dealt with the posadas, with the camps and with the boat owners the prices, and here you must count the time you loose trying to organise times and prices.

Another interesting trip rom Ciudad Bolívar and that Adrenaline organizes and operates is the one to the Gran Sabana, which is one of the most fascinating and unusual regions that exist. The most important thing there are the tepuis, big flat mountains. Roraima is the most well known one and a 6 days and 5 nights trip costs 750.000Bs.

Another different and fantastic option is to go up the Caura river, organized and operated by Posada Don Carlos. It costs 270€ everything included. You spent 4 nights in hammock and make 120 kms river up to the indigenous communities, walking through the rain, birdwatching, and arriving to the waterfalls Pará.